Kimono.



V. M. ELLIOTT.

KIMONO.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 14. 1916- Patented Jan. 9, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l- Z/V/ '(vz 6M V. M. ELLIOTT.

KIMONO.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 14, 1916,

I Patented Jan. 9, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- V. M. ELLIOTT.

KIMONO. APPLICATION FILED APR. 14. I916.

I M i 11/" I! ll Misses Patented Jan. 9, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

w M @M KIIVIONO. I

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 9, 191?.

Application filed April 14, 1916. Serial No. 91,007.

I To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VIRGINIA MARIE ELLIOTT, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Kimonos, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates generally to improvements in kimonos heretofore consisting of strips of textile fabric cut on the bias for shaping purposes, and secured together y a number of seams, andas a result of which there is unavoidably a stretching and sagging of the easily stitched fabric throughout the angle of the bias producing an unevenness in the bottom edge of the skirt, a pull wrinkling the fabric along the seam, and accordingly distorting the fabric, whereby the garment as a whole is not only disfigured in appearance, but impossible of being ironed in a uniformly smoothed condition when laundried.

' so constructed fromthin,

- flimsy character of the re-forming, and that they My invention more specifically however, relates to improvements in kimonos when soft, draping materlals, commonly used'for negliges, and especially when made of crepe de chine, and similar materials ornamented with ribbon in the form of bows stitched together, and to the fabric, and in which the objections above enumerated due to bias cutting and the use of seams are accentuated by reason of the .material, and the laundrying of which requires the ripping of the ribbon bows from the garment, and apart for separate laundrying, subsequent be re-located and again stitched to the garment. The practice, skill and time required for accurately cutting on the bias such thin andflimsy materials, stitching them together in the form of seams,-separately stitching each of the several bows of ribbons together, and to the garment, and for washing and ironing such a kimono as best may be, is obviously objectionable, and therefore makes apparent that any means by which it is possible and practical to successfully construct a kimono dispensing with these objectionable features, will be a substantial and material-advance in the kimono art. 4 v

The object of my invention broadly stated, is to. provide a means by which a kimono may be successfully constructed from a single strip of any material, 1 and More specifically stated, the object of my invention is to provide a means by which a kimono may be constructed from a folded single strip of thin, soft fabric, with ribbon hows, the ribbon for which furnishes a practical substitute for seams heretofore employed for securing the back, front and other parts of the garment together, and for bias cuts for wearer.

A further object of my invention is to provide a means by which a kimono may be successfully constructed from a single strip of material, and Vwith a decorative collar formed integral therewith.

Another object of my invention is to provide a kimono which is seamless in its entirety, and whichmay stitched bows of ribbon detachably connected with the fabric of the kimono in such .a manner that they may be conveniently and quickly removed therefrom, and with the material of the body of the kimono cleansed and ironedin an outstretched position, and therefore with perfect and uniform smoothness. y

A further object of my invention is to provide a means by which it is possible and practical to successfully, consecutively complete the construction in a single strip of material of kimonos of the required length, to thelength of.

limited in numbers only the strip before severing the same there from, whereby the'opposing split edges of With these ends in view, my invention finds embodimeht in certain features of novelty in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts by which the said objects and certain other objects are attained, all as hereinafter fullydescribed with refer ence to the accompanying drawings, and in the claims' more particularly pointed out llnsaid drawings: Figure 1 illustrates in plan view a single strip shaping the garment to the of textile fabric pro vided with means from which to construct.

a kimono in which my invention finds its embodiment. Fig. 2 is about a three-quarter back view of the kimono in its operative position upon the wearer. Fig. 3 is a similar front view ofthe same. Fig. a is a central longitudinal section of the blank in its folded position. Flg. 5 is a transverse section of the same showing the bows and their location for connecting the outer side edges of the folded fabric. Fig. 6 is a plan view of an uncut strip of fabric showing the adaptability of my invention for simultaneously picoting the bottom edges, and the opposing edges of the front opening with a single line of stitching for each of two 'kimonos, and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail diagrammatic view showing hemstitching and also the picoting of the opposing edges of the fabricon splitting the hemstitching as hereinafter described. 7

Similar characters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawings.

In Fig. 1 is illustrated a rectangular strip of soft thin material preferably crepe de chine as it is cut from the bolt, which in the construction of a kimono is folded upon the dotted line 6 for forming the back 7 and the- 1flront 8, the front being divided upon the 'ne 9. i

The back part 7 for a little more than half the length beginning at its-end is provided with pairs of slits at intervals of each other adjacent the longitudinal edges of the back ,fOI forming horizontal loops 10, similar loops 11 being likewise formed in the front part 8, and so that on folding the fabric the slits forming the several loops will register with each other for the passage-of short pieces of ribbon, which after being passed through the slits insuch a manner -as to conceal the loops, are then tied at their ends in the form of bows, and preferably as shown in Figs. 2 and 3; Q

j The back piece 70f thestrip of cloth is provided adjacent its opposite edges with a cated-about the same distance,

pair of slits forming vertical loops 13. -13,

as is also .the front 8 to provide vertical loops 7 14-14," the slits" for which vertically arrangedloops 13 and 14 are res ectively locm and on each side of the folding line 6, and whereby thevertical loops at opposite sides of the line 6 are adapted'to register with each other for the passagetherethrough of a belt or ribbon sash 15 at the waist line of the wearer and through. similarly formed vertically arrangedloops 16,-16, the location of which loops 1 6-'16-is such that they are in a lane substantially above-the waist line as s own The front portion '8 in thefinished kimono,

is also divided on the line.17 extending at a flright angle toandcro'ssing the line 9vfor ,nmnssa forming the neck opening and providing from the four corner pieces 18 thus produced a collar, .the size of the neck opening dependpiece of fabric in its operative position for a kimono, the several pieces of ribbon at intervals thereof have their ends passed through the slits in the back part and thence through the registering slits in the front part of the garment, and tied in a bow knot, but in practice the ribbons are'first given a turn once around the loops in the back part of the garment, and as may be also around the loop in the front of the garment, to prevent their accidental detachment and re lieve the bows of any strains otherwise tending to draw them too tight, or from coming apart.

For attaching the sash or belt 15 and locating it in its operative position upon the garment, it is preferably passed loosely through the loop 16 atthe back of the garment, and once around the loops 13 in the front piece of the garment, the ends of the sash being tied at the front of the wearer, as shown in the drawings, to form an ornamental bow knot 22, terminating in loose ends forming streamers 23 not only for ornamental purposes, but for confining the kimono to the waistof the wearer.

The-turn of the belt ribbon or sash once clear around and out again through the under-arm slots not only prevents the belt from becoming unfastened from the garment, accidentally mislaid, and perhaps lost,

but provides a means by which a belt serves for retaining the back of the garment to the proper fullness, and so that whether the belt is tied or untied in front, itoperates to draw and shape the garment in a modish and becoming manner without drawing on the sleeves, a result here ofore attained only when the sleeves of a kimono are formed of ment.

With the loops '16 located with reference to the waist line of the wearer of the kimono and the slits .13 and 14, it will be 125 a piece separate from-the body of the ga invention,

words when constructing a kimono picoting the edges of fabric,

rial along the shoulder line, but to the form of a kimono sleeve 24: pro ecting outwardly over the armof the wearer to a point well toward the elbow, both when the arm is and when lowered as It is also here to be noted that by locating the loops in the opposite sides of the garment inwardly some distance away from the-edges, to form the base of the sleeve (as shown in the drawing)- the wearer may be freely lifted, and which they would not be were the slots located next the opposing selvage edges.

The use of loops fornied by parallel slits or openings adapted for the passage there through of pieces of ribbon for securing together the opposing selvages ment, shaping it, etc., ing an important result namely that provides for securattributable to my D for picoting such edges and accordingly giving them a finished and ornamental appearance, and which is particularly both important and desirable when the material of the garment is made of thin and very flimsy material, and such as is employed more commonly than any other material for the construction of kimonos. In other in which my invention finds embodiment, the single strip of material from which it is formed is first hemstitched along the lines for the slits. forming the ribbon loops, and also along the lines 9 and-17 for the front and neck opening, as diagrammatically illustrated at 25 in Fig. 7, followed by splitting the hemstitching, that is to say the connecting or bridging threads 26 thereof as indicated inthe same figure, and thereby of said. several slits.

It will now be observed that my invention provides for the use of a single strip the longitudinal edges of which are provided with a selvage requiring no finishing, that all slits therein may be pro duced by first hemstitching and then picoting and accordingly ornamented, and that finished in the same a single line of hemstitching for the front and neck openings when split serves to picot the opposing edges thereof, and that the cut ends ofthe fabric maybe similarly prevented from raveling and ornamentally manner. Furthermore as illustrated in Fig. 6, my invention provides a means for completing the hemstitchmg 1 as and for the purposes described throughout a single bolt ofcloth of suflicient length for several and a large number of kimonos before severing the cloth and whereby a single line of hemstitching transversely of the garric provided with therethrough, when split, serves as a means for picoting at one operation the adjacent ends of two garments.

My invention also makes it practical and possible to finish the hemstitching before severing into lengths a number of garments, the numbers of which are limited only by the length of the cloth in the bolt, and thereby correspondingly reducing the cost of the construction of kimonos, terial of which on being severed from the bolt requires only the splitting of the hemstitching for protecting and picoting the otherwise raw edges thereof, ready for assembling by means of pieces of ribbon as hereinafter described. In other words, it will now be apparent on referring to Fig. 6 of the drawings, that a transverse single line of hemstitching 27 provides a means for picoting the bottom edge of both front end pieces 28, for which 29 is the back part; that the line of hemstitching 30 in dicates the dividing line upon which the fronts of two kimonos are to be divided and thereby picoted, and that the transthe maversely hemstitched lines 31 and 32 toward the opposite end of the line of hemstitching 30 when split operates to picot the remaining edges of the collar for the neck opening of two kimonos. made possible and practical by my invention for a single operator of a sewing machine to provide an uncut bolt of cloth of unlimited length with hemstitching for forming the loops and picoting of all the out edges therein desirable or necessary for the construction of seamless kimonos subsequently severed from said bolt, in numbers limited only by the length. of the fabric contained in such bolt, and whereby in the manufacturing of seamless kimonos for the market another and less skilled person may be employed for splitting the hem- In short it is stitching, connecting the opposing loops ingly reduced, and this especially when the fabric of a kimono consists of crepe de chine, and similarly thin, flimsy materials.

In conclusion it. may be observed that my invention is not limited to the details of construction or material herein shown and described, for that my invention includes a kimono of any material, the back and front parts of which consist of a transversely folded seamless strip of textile faba-number of opposing loops adapted for the passage therethrough of strips of any suitable fabric capable of detachably securing opposing surfaces of the fabric in the shape irequired for a kimono. i

Having described my invention, what I 1. A kimono, the back and front parts of which consist of a transversely folded seamless strip of textile fabric, provided with a number of spaced loops opposing and in register with each other, and with strips passing through said loops, and thereby adapted for detachably connecting and securing the meeting edges of said strip together and shape the/garment to the wearer.

2. A kimono, having a closed back and divided front part, conslsting of a transversely folded seamless strip of textile fabric provided with a number of spaced loops adjacent their opposing side edges formed integral with the fabric, and strips passing through said loops detachably connecting said back and front parts.

3. A kimono, the back and front parts of which consist of a transversely folded seamless strip of textile fabric, provided adjacent the opposing side edges thereof from their bottom edge to about the hip line with a seriesof spaced loops extending at a right angle to said edges, a number of strips adapted to pass thrcugh and connect said loops, longitudinal loops located adjacent said edges in register with each other at the waist line, and one or more longitudinal loops located about the center of the back in a plane substantiallyabove the waist line, and a sash passing through said longitudinal loops, the tightening of which conforms the kimono to the figure of the wearer, and distends the folded edge to a form simulating sleeves.

4:. A kimono, the back and front parts of which consist of a transversely folded seamless strip of textile fabric, provided with means for detachably connecting the longi-,

tudinal side edges thereof, and with a cross of the wearer.

cut the front part adjacent the back part forming corner pieces, adapted to be folded outwardly, and means for detachably securing said folded .corner pieces to the front part and to the form of a collar for the neck 5. A kimono provided with a closed back and divided front parts, consisting of a transversely folded seamless strip of textile fabric having'a number of spaced loops adjacent the side edges thereof, and at the mid.- dle of the back part above the waist line of the wearer, provided with corner pieces at the neck portion by a cross cut at a right angle to and through the meeting edges of the front portion, said front portions and corner pieces being respectively provided with tongues adapted to register with each other, and means passing through said several slits adapted to connect together the back and front parts, the corner pieces in a folded condition to the front part and to adjust the kimono to and conform it to the ,bust of the,

wearer.

6. A kimono, the back and front parts of which consist of a single transversely folded seamless strip of textile fabric constructed with a front opening and a number of slits forming loops constructed from hemstitching the fabric along the lines of their respective locations, and thereaftersplitting the hemstitch whereby said edges are picoted,

and the loops are adapted for the passage of strips of ribbon assembling and shaping the garment.

In wltness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal, this 12th day of April, A. D. 1916.-

VIRGINIA imam ELLIOTT; [1,. 5.

Witnesses:

MILDRED ELSNER, JNo. G. ETJJOTT. 

